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It does feel a little like the tectonic plates upon which Toronto’s professional sports teams rest are shifting.

First, the Blue Jays make a series of stunning moves, altering their course dramatically from a gradual building process to going for the World Series immediately.

Then, the Maple Leafs stun the entire hockey world by abruptly deciding that the face of their franchise and resident hockey genius, Brian Burke, is a genius no more, and send him packing in a confounding, shocking move.

Now, the Raptors have compounded their aggressive move from last off-season in which they traded a first-round pick to get point guard Kyle Lowry by sending another big chunk of the future to Memphis to get a player, Rudy Gay, some rate as just a notch below the Kobe Bryants and Carmelo Anthonys of the world.

All of this in just six months, with an Argonaut triumph in the Grey Cup game thrown in there as well, a victory made possible to a great extent by a huge trade the football folks made to bring in star quarterback Ricky Ray.

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Maybe all these events are completely unrelated, even though there are clearly threads linking the various transactions.

Something’s sure going on in our fair city, something that seems to have to do with a lot of people growing tired of losing.

The problem is, of course, that while the Argos won a championship and the Jays have built a powerful starting staff worthy of a contender, the Leafs’ decision to dump Burke hasn’t, in the very short time elapsed, translated into bringing any star players to the ACC. Moroever, new GM Dave Nonis doesn’t seem like he’s laying the groundwork to trade futures for immediate help, although the rumbles of Phil Kessel leaving town aren’t just noise.

The Raptors, meanwhile, are to a degree following the Alex Anthopoulos strategy of translating hope into reality after years of losing and compiling a roster of young talent.

But R.A. Dickey was a Cy Young Award winner. Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, not to mention Jose Reyes and drug-tainted Melky Cabrera, are established veteran players.

But perhaps, given that Memphis had to off-load one of Gay, Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph, it was a case of the Raps getting in when Gay’s value was at a low ebb after 6 ½ years of teasing the Grizzlies.

Possible. Then again, let’s all list together the great trades made by Colangelo as GM of the Raps.

You go first.

Maybe Colangelo took the broad hint delivered by the Bell/Rogers unholy ownership alliance and figured the walls were closing in on him if he didn’t make something happen soon.

But really, he knew that at the beginning of the season, no? And he did try to land Steve Nash last summer, going so far as to work the Landry Fields signing to make the entire process come together.

So getting Gay wasn’t a winter impulse. Colangelo’s been working on winning now for a while. It’s just that getting Gay cost a lot, more than just money. There are those who believe Ed Davis will prove to be the best player in this deal, and we’ll see about that. Trading a youngster just as he’s hitting his stride has been, of course, a Leaf trademark for decades.

But if Colangelo is right and Gay blossoms in Toronto, part of the reasoning will have been that for the Raps, getting this kind of player is only possible through trade. Free agents, notable ones, just aren’t going to sign in the Great White North, at least not with an also-ran.

Gay may become the front-court scoring threat who combines with DeMar DeRozan for a true one-two punch. But how does that fit around the youngster, Jonas Valanciunas, who’s a bit of a project still? Meanwhile, Colangelo seems committed to dealing Andrea Bargnani, and now it doesn’t make sense to do that for futures, does it?

Feels like there’s another shoe to drop here.

Clearly, the Raps now want to win, just as the Jays now want to win, as the Argos felt they had to try to win. The sensible path for the Leafs is to show some patience, but there’s been no indication from MLSE ownership that Nonis has permission to do it nice and slow.

Indeed, there may be pressure from above to trade for Roberto Luongo, with the clear objective to get back to post-season play.

In a broad sense, the Toronto sporting picture has surely grown more interesting, with Ray and Dickey, Reyes and Buehrle and Johnson and Cabrera, and now Gay.

A town that had Mats Sundin, Chris Bosh and Roy Halladay, then watched them all leave town, is getting some names back.

Just (trying) to win, baby.

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